The 100 Faces of Katherine Jane Hillard
by David Knight
Summary: Kimberly wasn't the only one who needed to see the truth about herself. Kat finds herself experiencing a period of similar enlightenment. Sequel to 'The 100 Faces of Kimberly Ann Hart'


**_Disclaimer:_**_ The Power Rangers are the property of Disney. If you have any questions, contact me at ericpaladinhotmail.com . This is the sequel to The 100 Faces of Kimberly Anne Hart. _

**The 100 Faces of Katherine Jane Hillard  
By: David Knight**

The alarm sounded bringing her out of her sound sleep.  She hated getting up in the morning.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Katherine Hillard said as she tried to shake the cobwebs out of her brain and wake herself up.  "Why can't I just stay in bed today?"  No answer came as she stumbled out of bed and made her way to the bathroom hoping to wash up and brush her teeth. She was about to run her fingers through her hair when her hand felt something brush against it. "A pigtail? I didn't put my hair in a pigtail last night." When she touched that pigtail however she felt something strange.

It was like her hair wasn't her own hair, and her face felt like plastic.

"What?!"  Kat asked as she felt her face and suddenly she felt wide awake.  Quickly she made her way into the bathroom where she turned on the light and looked in the mirror.  Kat was not prepared for what she saw.

Instead of a blonde haired Australian girl there was a reflection of a black haired girl in pigtails, freckles and glasses.  There were also buckteeth to match like a chipmunk's.  The skin looked plastic like a mask but Kat nonetheless looked at her new reflection and made the first reaction that came to her mind.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

-----

Around the same time, in an apartment in Florida, the young man simply known as Alan was reclining on a leather sofa, watching a horse race. _This jockey had better do better than the last one. Seriously why can't I get horse bets right 100% of the time like Jack does? Honestly no mortal can have that kind of luck._

Suddenly the door of Kimberly's room was almost broken down as a very proud and arrogant witch with gray hair done up into two pointed cones at the top of her hair strutted into the living room. She also wore a gaudy brown dress with cones on her chest, and way too much make up.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Look upon me with fear for I am Rita Repulsa! The most annoying and universe's worst dressed villainess ever born! AH-HAHAHAHAHA!!" the old crone laughed. "I am so pathetic that I married a man with no skin just to save my own hide! I've failed so many times I'm not a really good bad girl. For Evil's sake, I am so not worthy of even being a woman. Why, I am not even worthy of licking the boots of the grand high and mighty goddess known through out all of space as the Queen Diva, the Pirate Queen of the Galaxy..."

Suddenly, 'Rita' pulled at her face to reveal a woman with brown hair with a long purple ponytail, a gold mask over her right eye, and blood-red lips which were in such a large wide smile.

"Viva La Diva, Baby! Divatox has entered the room!" The self-imposed and self-absorbed Diva of the Universe laughed, looking down at herself still wearing Rita's get up. "YUUUUUUCK!!! You gave me lots of great praise, Rita you great suck up, but your clothes so don't fit me." She stuck her tongue out to give a gag, "I mean cones! Who in their right minds in the seven galaxies would have coned bras that stuck out for almost an entire foot... not to mention you couldn't even fill them to boot."

With one swift motion, she ripped off Rita's gaudy dress to reveal herself dressed in a red and gold corset which showed way too much cleavage. She was also dressed wearing tight black leather boots, gloves and had a red cape over her shoulders.

"Now this is so much better," Divatox gushed, "and so much more fitting of my goddess-like beauty. Brains don't matter when you have beauty. I don't have to think up my complicated plans, I have minions that want to come up with them." She then turned to face Alan, "You! Get down on your knees and worship the Diva that is me!"

Alan just raised an eyebrow. "Well at least Rita looked like she was real. You, 'Divatox,' look like a giant ugly Barbie doll wearing real clothes."

"Shoot," 'Divatox' muttered as she pulled off her face, revealing a rather real Kimberly Anne Hart. She took a look at herself in a full-length mirror. "At least I managed to get the right height."

"Sorta, you're about two-three inches short of her and as for the rest of you," Alan started to say but a glare from Kimberly cut him off.

"Finish that line, and I'll shove these stiletto boots so far up your rear end you'll never be able to sit down."

"So noted," Alan replied, "But so far I don't see you complaining."

Kimberly didn't answer right away, as she was still looking at herself in the mirror. It was a bit weird, her head on a close make of Divatox's body, though she would rather be shot then be caught in public looking like her. These last three months had been a mind blowing experience for her. She could say that Alan was her teacher, but his methods were trial and error, not to mention lots and lots of practice. The end result was now that she could more often than not make herself have a new face that looked real instead of plastic.

Now body work... that was incredibly hard. Changing her entire body was a LOT more work than just her face. Her head was only one single part and took only some concentration now.

For changing her entire body it took all of her strength of will to make it happen and she still wasn't getting it right. Alan said she was doing well given she had only started working on body changes within the last seven weeks. Right now they were just working on looking exactly like the original.

"Like I said before, your little performance last weekend in that club was definitely show grabber," Alan said with a smirk.

"My face is my default face right," Kimberly said as she pulled off her face, only to reveal her face except now her hair was pink and like Usagi's, "So making the same face only with a different hair color and/or hairdo is even easier than making up someone else's face."

She had a rather fond memory of Alan coaxing her into playing an open night at a club. Out of an urge to do something dramatic, she decided to walk into the club, looking totally like she normally did. When she went backstage to wait her turn to play, it wasn't until she was alone that she decided to change her hair, literally.  She played twice that night and each time she went back stage she changed her hair, getting a strong reaction from the crowd.

She had also gotten back into songwriting, something she found she had much more time for now, especially since she had given her walking papers to the Gymnast Camp that wanted her back. If she ever wanted to compete again as a Gymnast in actual competition, it would be when she felt like it was something she wanted again. For now, and probably for the rest of her life, she'd only do gymnastics for fun. Not to win.

_Though there's nothing wrong with teaching little children how to..._ A strange whistle in the wind suddenly interrupted Kimberly's thoughts. "Eh? Was that you Alan?"

"Looks like I'm being called away." He sighed.

"What?" Kimberly asked.

"Something I'm going to have to take care of, I'll be back," Alan said as he put his coat on, "'Sides, you should be used to me coming and going as I please by now. See ya."

Before she could say anything, Alan had already walked out the door, which slammed shut. Kimberly pouted, "I hate it when he does that." She then realized she was still wearing her pseudo-Diva body and not wanting to stay in any longer, pulled it off her body from the base of her neck. She then pulled off her pink haired odango face off as well.

The result of which returned Kimberly back to her normal appearance and leaving a Divatox bodysuit on the ground along with her pink-haired version of herself.

"I really should consider opening a costume shop," Kimberly mused, "With all of the spares and throwaways I've collected, I could probably make a mint."

-----

Alan had only walked a short distance before reaching a darkened alley. Closing his eyes, he waited to hear what 'they' had to say to him.

He was surprised by what he learned.

"What are the odds?" Alan shook his head. He leaned up against the wall, thinking about how to go about this. "Think it's best if I just make this as simple and straight forward as I have always done. No sense in changing the system now."

Folding his hands, he started to utter an unknown language. As he did so, a circle of light formed around him on the ground. A cascade of light enveloped him and then he was gone. Vanished without a trace from that alley in Miami, Florida...

-----

... Only to arrive at another alley in London, England.

"Of all the cities it had to be, why London?" Alan sighed, regaining his own balance. "Astreth Jumping is not a pleasant spell to use, ever. Even after all this time that I have used it." After taking a few minutes to compose himself, he closed his eyes to get a feel for his latest charge. He then opened them. "About five blocks from here. I am good."

Following the feel of the aura, he walked in the direction, hoping that this one would succeed as Kimberly had.

Unfortunately, in Alan's line of work, there were never any real guarantees.

-----

"Okay.  Calm down.  There's a perfectly good reason for this," Kat said, trying to relax.  So far she had gone through six masks and they were on the floor.  The first time there was the face of the girl she first saw, then a mask of Paula Jones, followed by the infamous Monica Lewinsky.

Kat pulled off the Monica mask revealing another face.  This time it was the girl who played Janet on Three's Company.  She pulled that one off to reveal Chrissy, also from the same show. They were followed by Cindy and Terry and then Mrs. Roper (much to her chagrin).  It seemed like she would never run out of masks.

"And you won't run out, not at the rate you're going." 

Kat turned around and saw a man standing in her hallway.  "Who are you?"

"My name is Alan.  And you have got quite the problem there, Kitty Kat."

"What are you talking about?  Are you responsible for this?" Kat said making reference to the Mrs. Roper face she wore and the masks already at her feet.

"No Kat.  You are," Alan said.  Kat asked what Alan was talking about.

"You've been lying to yourself Katherine. You've been denying yourself something that was a major part of you."

"No I haven't."  Kat replied.  Alan said, "That's at least a good twelve masks right there."

"I know who I am!" Kat said defiantly. 

"There's another ten."

Kat turned in a fit of anger and pulled of the Mrs. Roper mask she was wearing... only to reveal a mask of Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous.  "What is this?"

"A challenge." Alan said.  "One you have to get through or..."

"...or what?" Kat asked not sure she liked the answer.

"Not everyone gets through this ordeal,"  Alan said.  "In fact, there are only a few that do.  Those that don't well... they lose themselves entirely or... worse."  Kat felt chills run through her but then an idea popped into her head.

"Wait. Kimberly went through something like this. I'll call her."  Kat picked up the phone and dialed the number. 

"You won't get through," Alan replied.

Kat heard ringing on the other end but the operator answered instead of Kimberly.  "I'm sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily not in service.  Please check your directory and dial again."

"I can't get through!" Kat said, trying hard to get Kim to answer.

"Yeah.  I forgot to mention.  The phone lines are being checked around Kim's home.  They're shut down until a certain problem is looked at," Alan said.

"What problem is that?" Kat asked.

"How should I know?  I'm not a phone technician. The most I know about phone problems was when Johnny Fever made a wreck of a phone on an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati.  I loved it when he thought the phone company had their own police force and they were out to get him." Alan smiled.  "But anyway you have to get through a lot of this yourself."

Kat watched Alan get off of the couch and head for the door.  "Where are you going?" she asked.

"To get some groceries," Alan answered.  "You don't really have much to offer guests.  No soda, no pizza, not even a package of fries.  I've got to get something to eat and 'chips' don't cut it.  See ya."

"Wait!" Kat said, but it was too late.  Alan was already out the door and gone.  Kat was alone.

With nothing better to, she took the head of Patsy off and turned to the mirror to see the face of the mask she wore now.

She had become a Chinese girl with short black hair, a girl that she recognized rather well.

Fu Mingxia, an Olympic Diver from China. She won the gold in the springboard competition during the '88 and '92 Games but most recently had won the gold in both springboard and platform at the last Olympics in Atlanta.

Seeing the face of Mingxia brought back long forgotten memories within her, ones from her early childhood. Like Kimberly, the Olympics had meant something special to her. It was during the '88 Games, seeing Fu Mingxia compete in diving that had sparked her interests.

She began trying to become the best swimmer, the best diver that she could be. Even though her name was 'Kat' and cats don't like water, she remembered taking to it like a fish. It was so easy for her. She competed in many different tournaments and opens, and every win got her a headline that said "Aussie Wins Again" or "This 'Kat' Loves Water."

She was thought to be one of the best divers in Australia, at least her coach did. She was going to the Pan Globals and win the gold for her country.

Until she had 'The Fall'.

Even to this day it still remained her mind. She remembered it well, the competition at the Pan Global Trials. Which if she were to win would have given her the chance to go and compete in the games. She was the last person to dive, she had been in first and had the trials all locked up. All she had to do was just make it right.

But somehow she lost it. Either out of excitement and her own foolish pride, she hit her head on the board on a dive she had preformed in practice over a hundred times flawlessly.

The board was the last thing she saw before waking up in a hospital, learning that her team had lost by a single point.

The head lines that came emphasizing her mistake and her own fear of another mistake kept her from ever attempting to go into the water, let alone try to dive again.

Though her fear was long gone thanks to her friends, the memories remained. Memories of what was, what had been, and what could have been.

"They aren't easy at all to forget it nor does the pain from them ever go away," Katherine said softly, "But it lessens, and maybe I don't want to forget it. There are lessons and precious moments from those times that I don't want to lose ever." She knew that she would do diving again, just as a hobby though. Right now dancing was what she had become into. Still, she wouldn't lose her memories of the experience.

"All right. Who's next," Kat said as she pulled off Mingxia's face, ready to go on to the next one.  This one was a face of girl with thick red-rimmed glasses and a brunette bouffant hairdo. Unfortunately, she felt nothing from this mask. She let out a sigh as she sat down in a chair. "This is going to be a long day."

-----

It did feel like an hour or two had slipped by before Katherine had decided to take off the mask the girl with the bouffant hairdo. When she did, she found herself changed into Maria Shriver. "Well this is a nice change of pace." She commented as she took off Maria to find that she had become Jamie Lee Curtis. "Two women that have had connections to the Terminator. This going to be the 'Arnold's Women's' phase?"

To her pleasant surprise she found that wasn't the case. After Mrs. Curtis she changed into Marlo Thomas, followed by Marilu Henner, Shelly Long, Kirstie Alley, and then Michelle Yeoh, who had been the movies Supercop and the latest 007 film Tomorrow Never Dies.

"Now here is a woman that is smart, beautiful and can kick some serious butt," Kat chuckled, enjoying her Michelle look for a bit before changing into Susan Sarandon. After Susan, she pulled off her face to reveal another woman, who wasn't as big a celebrity as the others. In fact she had only seen her in one movie but it was a rather good performance and Katherine thought she definitely had potential.

"Holly Marie Combs I presume," she said in jest as she looked at the said actress's face in the mirror. "Wonder where you came from anyway?"

After Holly came Jane Pauley, Deborah Norville, and then Erin Grey, who Kat remembered seeing when she was younger in the show Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century.

"Okay so far I don't feel anything her at all, can the next face be of some importance?" Katherine asked annoyed as she pulled it off.

As if her prayers were being answered, she ended up seeing herself as one of her personal favorite idols.

Olivia Newton-John

"I don't believe it." Kat said looking at the mask she wore in the mirror.  She absolutely loved Olivia.  Like Kat she came from Australia and had become a superstar in the late 1970's.  She sang, danced, she did it all.

When Kat transferred to America she saw it as the chance of a lifetime.  She had hoped that she could have success like that of Olivia, so she wasted no time in resuming her dance studies.  Ballet, gymnastics, anything she could get she did. Katherine Hillard wanted to be the next Olivia Newton-John.

It was then that Kat had an idea.  She went and dug through her old CD's and found her Olivia CD.  After she inserted it into the CD player she immediately started to play the sing 'Physical' and started dancing around her room.

_Come on and get Physical, Physical.  
Come on and get Physical.  Let's get physical  
Let me hear your body talk.  Your body talk.  
Let me hear your body talk._

Katherine let herself go, allowed herself to move to the music.  It seemed like for the first time in a very long time she was free.  Free of life, free of hassles, free of everything.

When the song ended Kat came to a realization.  As she studied at her dance school she realized that she didn't have that same feeling.  She tried to dismiss it as part of the learning process, but Kat knew better.  Some of the students there were just snobby little girls and the teacher was just trying to force her beliefs on dance on those she was supposed to teach.  She was a machine and the teacher saw her as someone who needed programming.

There was no freedom.  No expression.

Kat smiled under her Olivia mask and restarted the song 'Physical.  She then danced like there was no tomorrow.  She put her heart and soul into everything she had.  As the song said, Kat let her body talk, and from her dancing Kat definitely had something to say.  When she finished Kat heard clapping.

"Nice dance.  You ever think of being a pop diva?" Kat turned and saw the source of the clapping was Alan, who was standing in the doorway.

"I guess there isn't a kid who hadn't dreamed of being a pop superstar." Kat said.  "But I always liked Olivia.  She had beauty, grace, talent; I wanted to be so much like her."

"Does that also count for that song you did with Aisha as well?" Alan asked.

"Did Olivia factor into that too?"  Kat's memory turned to when she and Aisha were going to do that singing contest at Angel Grove High.  She hadn't thought of singing that much, but there was the spark of her that did want to try it, if for no other reason than to try to emulate one of her heroes better.

"Can I ask you something?" Kat asked Alan. 

Alan answered "Within reason."

"Want to go out?"  Alan was confused by the question but Kat quickly explained.  "I know I'm probably not the best sight right now, but this face is perfect for what I have in mind."

"And that is?" Alan asked not sure what the answer would be.  But even through the plastic mask Kat was able to smile as she said what she had in mind.

"Have you ever gone roller skating?"

-----

The skating rink was closed but Kat kind-of wanted it that way.  She wanted the peace and quiet provided as she skated around the rink wearing the Olivia mask.  Her songs were echoing through the sound speakers.

Kat skated like a figure skater with the beauty and grace reserved usually for her dance performances.  She felt free for the first time in a long time, as if she was flying on wings after spending so much time on the ground looking up.

Kat took a look back to see how Alan was doing, and she laughed a bit as she watched him try to keep his balance.  "Whoa!  Whoa!!" were his words of the hour, until Kat grabbed him by the hand and led him around the rink.  Soon he was gliding on his skates as Kat was gliding on hers, the music filling the background.

"Having fun?" Kat asked smiling.

"Where did you get this idea?" Alan asked, then added a "Whoa!"

"A movie musical called Xanadu." Kat explained.  "In fact the song you're hearing now is from that same musical."

"What was it about?" Alan couldn't help but ask.

"A down on his luck artist falls for a Greek muse named Kira who was trying to inspire him to open a night club with an old dancer from the 40's who dreamed of better days." Kat explained.  "It was kind of combining styles of music to form one grand sound, and styles of dance to create something two generations could enjoy."

"Where does the roller skating fit in?" Alan then asked.

"There was a lot of that in the film," Kat explained.  She sighed briefly as she thought "They don't do dance like that anymore, or sing or make movies like that anymore. There's no appreciation of art and talent in today's world. Nowadays it all seems like everything is based on what's popular."

"Have you ever thought that?" Alan asked.

"Once or twice." Kat said.  "But...the styles and entertainments of old...they had a certain magic I always wanted to be part of.  You know the old saying, those that don't remember the past are forever condemned to repeat it.  I want to keep these classics alive.  I want to keep the beauty and grace alive. I want... to keep those times in my heart even if I've never lived them."

"They do seem like simpler times don't they?" Alan asked.  "Love and romance. Boy meets girl, fall in love, live happily ever after."

"I know," Kat said.  "Well, I guess it's time to get back."  Alan agreed, and was glad to.  But Kat still had one bit of mischief she wanted to get out of her system.

"Hold on," she said as she let Alan go.  Alan was flailing his arms trying to stop but he hit the railing of the penalty box and went over it into the box itself.  Kat skated over chuckling as she asked Alan "You okay?"

Alan climbed back up and grabbed the railing.  "Can we walk back to your place this time?"

-----

"No, I am serious Trini," Kimberly said over the phone to her best friend, "I bought a video camera to record myself. Taking still shots don't nearly do me justice," a wide smile broke over her face, which broke out into laughter, "or my impersonations of certain annoying witches and wannabe villainesses!"

Trini laughed.  "If there is a possible way for me to get a copy of that tape, I would love it!  Especially if you've gotten better at it."

"Oh I have," Kimberly laughed. "Do you remember how I broke the news to you?"

"Oh, yeah.  Seeing my face on your body was a shock.  I'm just glad you had me sit down first!"

Kimberly smiled as she remembered how she broke the news to Trini when she came over two months ago. After picking her up from the airport and brought her to her apartment, she had her sit down and then just show her what she could, since only actions could make someone believe what she had been through. "I remember showing you my special box which contained all the faces I pulled off during my 'identity crisis'. I still remember how you reacted when you pulled Rita out of the box."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't exactly ready to face her again," Trini said,  "even as a mask."  She sighed.  "I miss it, sometimes," she admitted, "But not as much as Jason did."

"I know," Kimberly replied. "I still have my old morpher, cracked and all. I once or twice thought about using it, but never did because the coins were destroyed so morphing would be a great personal risk." She paused for a moment before continuing, "besides, I have something now to fill that void. If I ever want to look like the Pink Ranger again, I can make myself look like her." A smile came over her face. "Speaking of Ranger suits, you get my package in the mail yet?"

"Yes, I did. Thank you!"  She sounded pleased. 

"I'm sorry I couldn't get it right while you were here but like I said I got really better at it since you were here. Tricky part was trying to get to be exactly at your size so I could pull of changing into your Ranger outfit," Kimberly replied.

"Oh, I don't mind the wait!  It's just nice to have.  Thank you so much."

Kimberly looked around, wanting to make sure he wasn't around so she could ask, "It occurred to me I never asked this the whole time you were around so I'm asking now... what do you think of Alan?"

"Weird," Trini confirmed.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," Kimberly mused, "I got this feeling that here's a lot more too him but he just doesn't talk about it. I know he isn't human, at least I'm 70% sure he isn't."

"So what's new?" Trini asked.  "After Zordon and Alpha, most non-humans barely bother me.  At least, I don't think they do."  She laughed.  "Not something I have to worry about here."

"True enough. Even when we went to Angel Grove for a week Divaslut didn't bother us at all. She didn't even make a single attack at all," Kimberly replied, "with any luck maybe she flipped her lid and had herself locked up into a loony bin."

"Wouldn't that be a hoot?" Trini chuckled.

_That's something to consider for my video._ Kim mused, "So back to the subject of Angel Grove, what do you think of the new team, or more specifically, the new Pink and Yellow."

"Young," Trini said.  "Even after a couple months consideration, they seem young."

"Yeah, but weren't we when we were first chosen?" Kimberly replied. "Ashley's a good girl and I know she's a fine ranger..."

"What?" Trini asked, hearing her pause.

"It's just that I never expected Ashley to be a Ranger," Kimberly said, "but if she ever did, I kind of thought she'd end up as a Pink, not a Yellow... no offence or anything."

"None of us know what the criteria is for a color," Trini soothed.  "Besides, she makes a very good Yellow Ranger."

"Yeah she does," Kimberly agreed, "and that girl Cassie has a fine voice. I mean really fine." She blinked as she just thought of something, "Maybe signing has to deal with Pink criteria. I mean I sing, Kat sings, and Cassie..."

"Sure, but how do you account for the stark difference between Zack and Adam?  I was hugely surprised that it wasn't Rocky that was black."

"Good point," Kimberly laughed, conceding her friend's point. "For me personally, I've just been trying to continue getting my powers more fine-tuned. I've almost gotten height right on every person I do. After height, then comes working on the rest of the body, and I do mean the rest."

"Well, when you get everything right, I really want a copy of that tape."  Kim could hear Trini's smile.  "Have you tried being a boy yet?"

Kimberly blinked, "... a boy? No. No, I haven't tried being a boy. I think that might be kind of weird, and probably a lot harder considering... well... you know... boys are different from girls."

"Of course they are.  Which, of course, is why you should try it.  Don't be confined to half the world, Kim."

"I think it's kind of strange, but right now I'd like trying to be different women done right first before crossing the gender barrier."

"Up to you," Trini said lightly.

"Yeah it is up to me really," Kimberly replied. "I'm just glad we're talking like we used to. Everything I went through, there was a reason for it... and yet..."

"And yet?"

Kimberly pulled off her face, turning into Mary Kate Olsen and looking at her reflection in the glass table. "I can't help but keep thinking about my Spirit Sister. Every day I make myself look like Mary Kate at least once, just to keep it in my mind. Something to look forward to but I feel nervous as to wondering when I will meet her."

Trini sighed.  "Kim, how many times do I have to tell you?" she asked gently.  "She will appear when it is her time.  For all you know, she's waiting until you can meet her on her terms.  Keep practicing and she'll turn up."

"Guess you're right Trini," Kimberly nodded. "Still I think its kinda cool. Me being the first person to have a Spirit Sister using the Olsen Twins as the symbol for it."

Trini chuckled.  "Yes, It is."

"I'll call you again later this week," Kimberly replied. "Oh. One more thing before I go. You think I should end up opening a costume shop? Ya know with all the spare faces and suits I'm keeping stored up I think I need to find a way to unload them. Preferably in a way I can profit from."

Trini laughed.  "That makes perfect sense to me."

"Yeah it does and I should consider it," Kimberly laughed. "Later Trini."

"Bye Kim." Trini said as she hung up the phone as well.

"Well you seem to be happy." Kimberly turned around to face Alan, who had an amused look on his face. "Still thinking about your spirit sister?"

"Oh yeah. Got this idea of maybe doing a romp as the Olsens, considering they are the symbols of our bond," Kimberly said casually. "And you know what they say, blondes have more fun."

"Encouraging," Alan mused.

"Oh by the way Alan.  Where did you go?" Kim asked.

Alan paused for a minute wondering how to answer the question.  "Would you believe I went roller skating?"

-----

Back at her home Kat looked at the Olivia mask for a few minutes.  "Well it was fun being my idol for a bit, but now it's time for me to move on."  She then removed her Olivia mask revealing her newest face.

"Mary Marvel?  Captain Marvel's sister?" Katherine asked in surprise. "Is this going to be my superhero phase." She scratched her head for a moment. "Well Kim said she did go through a string of superheroines. I know there's been quite of few comic book heroines I wanted to be when I was a little girl."

She stared at herself as Mary Marvel for a while before taking off her face and finding herself changed into Donna Troy, who had been both Wonder Girl and Troia. Then there was Firehawk who was the female counterpart of the superhero Firestorm.

After taking off Firehawk, she found herself transformed into a rather recognizable video game character. The brown hair done in a ponytail along with a pair of tinted sunglasses was a dead giveaway.

"Lara Croft? I'm Lara Croft?" Kat said bewildered by this one. Though she had the accent for the roll, she didn't have the famed Tomb Raider's bust size. Though the thought of seeing herself in Lara's clothing...

"Okay, I need to take this off before I start thinking out a private fantasy," Katherine chuckled, shaking her head as she pulled off Lara's face to reveal herself to be the modern age comic version of the Huntress. Though she did take off Lara's face, she put it on top of her table, not her floor as several other masks had fallen to.

Looking back in the mirror she found that she was now Scarlet Witch, followed by Janet Van Dyne/Wasp both of which had been from the Marvel comics superhero team the Avengers. After taking off Wasp's face she found herself now made over into Storm of the X-Men. Soon after that she found herself made over as Kitty Pride aka Shadowcat.

"Is there going to be a lot of 'cat' puns through out this?" Katherine asked as she played a bit with her rather long brown hair at the moment, knowing a bit about Shadowcat being able to walk through walls, though she doubted she could do that herself.

After taking off Kitty's face, she found herself turned into a reddish blonde haired woman with blue eyes. She recognized this one rather well. Alison Blair, also known as Dazzler from the X-Men. She didn't intend on being a superhero or a mutant. All she wanted to do was pursue her dreams and become a singer, despite her father's wishes of her being a lawyer. Regardless of all that, Alison did become one, going to fulfill her dream.

There was a bit of Dazzler in her, Katherine knew. The part of her that wanted to be on stage performing for people. Maybe it was just left over feelings from her Olivia face or maybe having Dazzler's face was a bit of reassurance, a part to keep her remembering of what she learned from her time being Olivia.

After spending a few minutes as Dazzler, Katherine took off her face, only to find someone she didn't expect at all.

"Catwoman?" Kat asked as she saw the mask in the mirror.  A mask that got a strong reaction out of her, and not necessarily a pleasant one.

She read about Catwoman from the Batman comics and shows Rocky read and watched all the time.  She was an anti-hero at best who really walked the fine line between good and evil.  At worst she was a jewel thief with a strong dark side.  Kat didn't want to wonder why the Catwoman mask was there as she immediately removed it as fast as she could and saw a new face in...

Barbara Gordon.

In this one Kat breathed a sigh of relief.  She knew Barbara was the former Batgirl who became Oracle, the super hero information provider, after being crippled by the Joker.  Barbara had a strong spirit and a good heart that didn't let a forced disability stop her.  In Barbara Kat saw an aspect of herself that provided her with comfort and reassurances about herself.  So much so that she could go onto her next mask without a problem.

A mask that was the face of Lina Inverse from Slayers.  Kat had an amused reaction to seeing Lina's face on her own body, especially since Lina's figure was more like Kimberly's than anything. Kat wondered where that thought came from for a moment before deciding to go with her next mask.

"Who's next?" Kat asked as she pulled off the Lina mask revealing the face of Lina's partner, the well endowed Naga the Serpent.  Kat couldn't resist getting into the character of Lina's 'well endowed' partner as she looked down at the Lina mask.

"Well now Lina Inverse.  How will you fare against the perfect beauty of Naga the Serpent.  Beauty, brains and boobs, yeah this girl has got it all.  Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!  Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!  Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" After doing Naga's annoying laugh for a good few minutes Kat pulled of the Naga mask revealing her next face.

"Princess Allura?" Kat asked astonished.  "I'm Princess Allura?"

Kat remembered the Voltron cartoon Allura had been part of.  Kat saw her and immediately saw a kinship with her.  The strong spirit, the willingness to fight for what she believed in, to not allow others to make her into what she was. Kat had lost track of how many times she saw how her nanny and Koran had tried to make her into a princess that seemed to be a defenseless piece of fluff, only for Allura to prove that she was meant to defend her people as best she could.

Kat also saw a goodness in Allura's heart that she felt reflected her own. Allura was a good caring person much like Kat had saw herself as.  But all the same Kat had to remove that mask, and go on to the next one which was a mask of a beautiful young woman with long red hair.  The Allura mask was set beside the mask of Catwoman and it landed on top of the Barbara Gordon mask.  In the hallway Alan watched the whole proceedings.

_She's found part of herself.  Now she has to find the rest._ Alan thought.  But in the back of his mind he wondered if Kat could deal with the darker aspects of herself.

For that would definitely be what she would face next.

-----

"...has been disconnected. Please hang up and..."

Kimberly let out a groan as she heard for now the fifth time today that Kat's phone service was out of order. _This is starting to bug me. Maybe I'm over reacting, but I just have this feeling that something isn't just right._

Looking up, she saw Alan picking something up out of the fridge. A six pack of beer. She hardly drank it but considering how often he came, some times he left a pack in. "Hey Alan!" she called out to him, yet to her surprise she saw him just fade out.

_Okay. Alan's not even talking to me when I call to him. That's definitely a red flag._ Kimberly mused as once again that bad feeling she had felt to be getting worse. _Just what is going on? _

Kimberly sat for a few minutes and then started to drift off into a half sleep.  While asleep she had started to dream.

-----

Out of her apartment Kimberly found herself in some sort of forest.  Standing around her were a bunch of Indians who were chanting.  Kimberly couldn't make out the chants but she could tell they were important ones.  When the chants ended the chief, who was at the area of the circle facing her stood and came to her.  Kimberly looked up in awe of the chief of the tribe she was part of.

"The white man has been moving across our land." the chief had said.  "Soon there will be no place for us to call home.  Our tribe will be lost.  Our history and way of life lost forever.  And yet with the blessing of the great spirit our secrets will live on in the two of you."

_The two of us?_ Kimberly asked as she felt the presence of someone kneeling next to her.  Kimberly wanted to turn to see who it was but her gaze was focused on the chief.  She could not take her eyes off him.  To do so would have shown lack of respect for the tribe and its customs.

"With these two girls our power shall live on.  When they are reborn in the next world the bond of blood will transform into a bond of spirit.  And our magic and legacy shall live on in them."

Kimberly was wondering what was going on when she heard something move.  It was a cat moving towards the girl next to her, and something else.

A crane flew down and landed before her.

-----

Kimberly woke up with a shot.  Immediately she felt different.  A tingle flowing all through her body.  "It can't be!" Kimberly said as she felt a tug in her soul.  A tug that told her what to do.

Opening her screen door Kimberly ran and leapt into the air.  Her body melting as she had changed her shape.  Her arms turned into white wings as her body shrunk into itself.  Her face started to protrude into a beak and soon Kimberly Hart found herself flying.

She was no longer in her human form.  She had turned herself into a bird.  A crane to be precise.

_Like when I was in the temple with Ninjor_ Kimberly thought as she flew.  _I was told the crane was my spirit animal.  Could I have turned into one?_

Kimberly knew the answer was a resounding yes.

Soon she flew back down to her balcony and had transformed back into her human form.  A look of amazement across her face.  _I gotta tell Kat about this. _she thought as she reached for the phone nearby.  Still the answer she got was the same one she had before.

"I'm sorry, the number you are dialing has been disconnected..."

-----

Back in London Katherine had officially entered into the Monster phase. She knew it because when she took off the beautiful face she had on, she ended up turning into an evil looking nurse with orange red hair and a blood red tongue ticking out.

"GROSS!!!" Katherine screamed as immediately ripped off that face, only to be stuck having turned into Darla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a show they got here in England. "It's amazing how popular it is."

After Darla she found herself stuck as a Space Alien, then a nasty looking witch. When she changed into Queen Machina it brought out a surprise. "Oh this is just dandy." She groaned as she pulled of Machina to find Archerina underneath that. "Great. Now I got the head of the most vain evil female machine that believes she solely deserves to wear pink. Someone needs a memory upgrade."

After Archerina came Divatox's mother, Momma D. Even though never meeting her in person before, Tommy had described the snake haired mother of Divatox at length. Enough to know her face when she saw her. "Who is the next ugly witch I become?" she groaned.

Witch was the correct word to use as she became someone she very much disliked.

Rita Repulsa.

There were a lot of emotions that went through Katherine's mind when she saw that face look back at her. Anger, resentment, loathing, rage, hatred. She wanted to get back at Rita for all that she had ever done to harm her. She had a few choice words to say about the space witch; all of them not suitable to be heard by children.

After having her words with 'Rita', Katherine gratefully ripped off the hated face from her head, yet she couldn't believe what she saw look back at her in the mirror, "... no..." she let out a gasp as this was a face she didn't want to see but now it made sense as to why she saw the Catwoman mask earlier.

Staring back at her was a part of herself she feared and kept locked away yet staring her at her head now she couldn't deny it. Couldn't deny the fact that she looked like a monster, with her cat head with a brown facemask over her green blue eyes and red lips. The face of the form that had been used to attack the Rangers when Rita had her under control and had dubbed her Katastrophe, believing she was her creation.

It couldn't be further from the truth. Katastrophe was not a byproduct of a spell of Rita's. It was because Katherine herself could become Katastrophe whenever she wanted.

Her entire family was cursed with the mark of the werepeople. The men became werewolves... and the females such as herself became werecats.

And yet there was more to it than that.

Images flashed in Kat's mind.  Images of being surrounded by Indians, and a man before her telling that she carried a legacy with her.  Her and one other.

Kat looked to her side as much as she could and saw another person there.  Someone who's face she couldn't make out.  _Who is she? _she asked herself.

Kat had no answer.  She heard the flapping of wings and the meow of a cat.  And then it was back to reality.  She looked and saw the face of Katastrophe staring back at her knowing about an aspect of herself.

And yet knowing there was more to it than that.

-----

_This ring does have its perks, even if it came from a bad source._ Alan mused to himself, fingering the emerald ring on his right hand. Having it turned just the right way allowed him to be able to remain unseen by mortals.

He hated doing this sometimes, but this was a necessity. Unlike Kimberly, Katherine needed to be monitored much more closely. _Does it hurt me more this time because she was a victim of darkness? Unlike Kimberly, she has plenty of inner demons that have been left unresolved... of course who I am to talk about inner demons?_

He wondered if it was possible to actively interfere, to give Katherine help that he knew she could use right about now. Unfortunately, he knew the rules that he was bound by in his existence. There were no exceptions, no matter what the case of the afflicted. He could not actively interfere.

Katherine had to be strong on her own.

-----

Katherine was on the floor now, looking at her reflection in the mirror.  _I should take this right off shouldn't I?_ Yet after a while, she shook her head. _That's not the answer. Even if I could take it off..._

She stared down at her hands, and with concentration they started to change. Around her hands fur sprung out until all of her skin was covered and her nails became longer and had a bit of a curve to them now as if they were claws. _What good does it do me to take it off when it won't get ride of what's inside of my own blood?_

She knew she had been given this face for a reason and looking back at her cat head's reflection she knew just what that was.

She had been denying her heritage.

It had been a part of her since she was born. A part of her self that she has been frightened by, had worried about since discovering it and the fact that even now she didn't totally understand it just made everything that much worse.

"I am scared. I always have been," Katherine admitted. "Scared of what will happen when people find out. Strangers, friends... Tommy," she let out a choked sob, when saying his name. "If they ever found out about this... they would treat me differently, like a freak. That I am not even human... just a thing.  A monster."

She let herself cry on the floor, wondering what was she supposed to learn out of all this. She wondered what her own family would think of how she was acting toward their heritage. Her grandparents, her mother, her father... _Wait!_ her eyes went wide when her father crossed her mind.

Unlike the rest of the family, her father was not a wereperson. As Katherine thought about him, she remembered the story her mother told her about how she and her father had first met, when Katherine had asked that question so long ago.

Her father had once been a prejudiced man towards all things of the supernatural, but had fallen in love with her mother without knowing who she was. One night they were attacked and in order to save his life, she'd had to transform to do it.

For a while it drove her parents apart, but it had opened up her father's eyes to a whole new perspective and he'd seen that the views he'd had were flawed and wrong. Her parents had come together again, and their love had become stronger than ever.

"Then they got married... and had me," Katherine said, emotion showing in her voice, "I was born out of an act of love, of human and wereperson. My father didn't understand at first, but then he did. He doesn't think of us as freaks. He accepts all things that can't be explained by normal life."

Slowly Katherine got back on her feet, feeling stronger and more confident than she had only moments ago. She stared back at her own reflection in the mirror. She understood now; the face of Katastrophe represented her own inner demons, the part of her that she had been denying from herself for some time. "I may not come completely to terms with my heritage right now, but I won't deny it any more. I'm going to learn to understand who and what I am. I'm not Rita's pawn any more. I have friends and I know that they accept me. I won't let her run any part of my life. Not anymore."

-----

If Katherine could only see that he was behind her, she would have seen the smile on Alan's face.

_You're overcoming your inner demons one by one, little kit._ Alan praised, _There is hope for you yet... not to say that you never had any hope, but I'd say your chances have just gone up a lot higher now._

-----

After she removed her werecat face she ended up going through what could be considered a Comedy Phase, mainly because she ended up as a mix of comedians and female cartoon characters.

There was Larraine Newman, followed by Gilda Radner, Candace Bergen, and then Mary Tyler Moore. Kat felt like going into the theme song of the Mary Tyler Moore Show when she saw that face on her.

Next came Valerie Harper who was the last human face she that she was before she became cartoon characters. First there was Barbara Ann 'Babs' Bunny, Elmyra Duff, Fifi Le Fume, and Petunia Pig.

"You miss being with Porky don't ya?" Katherine giggled as she looked at herself in the mirror with this character's head on her body. Petunia Pig was Porky Pig's girlfriend, but hadn't been seen since the very early days when Porky had been just starting out. "Well let's find out who's next shall we?"

Who came next was a surprise and a half for her, as she ended up becoming her oldest and dearest friend from Australia, who had been on her team and even after she left had gone on to end up getting the gold for their home country.

Cordelia Porter.  

Seeing Cordelia's, or Cordy as she used to call her, face in the mirror brought back a flood of memories from her childhood in Australia. The friends she had back there, that she left behind when she came to America. She always said she'd never lose sight of the people that she left behind when her family moved to America.

Yet what happened? First came Rita with her spells, then becoming a Power Ranger in three different incarnations and now here in London. And through it all, all she had to show as far as communication was not even a handful of letters.

_I've lost sight of the past. Of the friends I loved so very much. Would it have really been that much of a hassle to send regular letters?_ Katherine asked herself, already knowing the answer to that question. _Well that's about to change._ Setting her mind to it, she picked up the phone and dialed up a long-distance number.

"Hello."

"Hey Cordy. It's Kat."

To her surprise, a laugh came over the phone.  "Kat!  Wow, it's good to hear from you!  Where are you?  Are you close?  Like, should I be heading out to pick you up at the airport?"

"No. I'm in London right now, at a Ballet Academy." Kat replied.

"Wow, that's good news.  From the States to London.  My friend, the world traveler!"

"Yeah, a world traveler..." Kat muttered.

"Is something wrong? Wasn't that one of your dreams, to see the world?  You were so excited when your dad got transferred to California."

"Yes, it was," Kat replied, "And I'm grateful for what has happened to me because of that... but this move. This move here is all wrong."

"What, to London?"  She sounded surprised.

"I came here to learn how to dance, to gain better skill and such... instead what I have found is just a couple of snobby little girls and an instructor that wants to turn out machine-like ballerinas."

"That sounds familiar," Cordelia said.  "I found the same thing on the diving team at school.  I have go dive at a public pool to remember how much I love to do it."

"Why is it that when we finally get our big break, it turns out to be something that we don't expect and instead eventually don't like." Katherine asked.

"Because we're innocents, and we've been tossed to the wolves."  Cordelia laughed.  "You mentioned learning martial arts in California.  You can defend yourself, you know."

"Yes, I did," Kat said. "Cordy I... I'm sorry I haven't really spoken to you much these days. You and all of the other friends I have in Australia."

"I've missed hearing from you.  I wish I could have called more myself, but you know what my Dad is like."

"Yeah, I do, calling long distance is murder on the phone bills."

"Especially for us poor student types."  Cordelia laughed, and then sighed.  "Still, sending letters shouldn't have been so hard to keep up."  She sounded wistful.

"No, it shouldn't have." Kat agreed. "Something I'm going to make sure to do. Send a letter every two weeks to you. This way we have enough to write about to the other, considering how long it takes for mail to travel across the seas."

"Sounds like a plan.  And I'll see if I can get Jeneice in on the circle, and we'll just send our letters around."  Cordelia laughed.  "We'll work it out later, though, because I know this is costing you huge.  I'll send you a letter tomorrow - and you'd better tell me about this guy you only hinted at the last time you wrote."

"Yeah I definitely will." Katherine laughed.

"Bye Kat."

"Bye Cordy." Katherine said, hanging up the phone, feeling a bit better about everything. A bit more conflict and confusion resolved.

And the repairing of a friendship that shouldn't have been ignored as it was.

-----

Back in Florida Kimberly was looking at herself in the mirror.  Only it wasn't herself per se.

Instead Kimberly found herself looking at a creature that looked half human half bird.  A creature that she herself turned herself into.

"Wow!" Kimberly said looking in the mirror impressed by what she saw.  "Another thing I got to show Kat when I see her."  Kimberly paused for a minute thinking that this was another time she had thought of Kat.  More and more her thoughts were turning to her, and Kim wondered why.

"I'm not going to get an answer now." Kim sighed.  "I think I'll take a flight."  Kim then let the transformation go the rest of the way and she had turned back into her crane form.  She went out and flew for a good couple of hours, not intending to return until the phone lines were fixed and Kim could call Kat.

-----

Kat took some time before taking off Cordy's face and found herself going through a Trio of Figure Skaters, which she found to be rather peculiar.  The first two had been Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding respectively. Kat could understand how she could be both of them. Nancy definitely represented Katherine's own good intentions and personality, though Tonya on the other hand was the exact opposite, showcasing the darker pieces to herself, whether it had been of being under a spell or of times where she did act rather nasty. The last skater had been Oksana Baul.

"This a joke?" Katherine asked as she looked at Oksana's face in the mirror. Though she had to admit that Oksana did have that perseverance of spirit, keeping herself from being compared to the two women she had been before her.

The faces after Oksana had been of old and new friends. First had been both Aisha and Tanya. Both Yellow Rangers, both of them having been best of friends. Next came Ashley and Cassie, Tanya and Kat's replacements as Turbo Rangers respectively. Ashley she knew only a little bit, but knew enough that she had a good heart.

Cassie was everything that Kat thought was needed to fill the role of the Pink Ranger, and knew that she would do well in her stead.

The face after Cassie however was a surprise.

"Jenny Stone?" Kat asked, seeing that she had now become Lt Stone's niece. She had met her when the auditions for the London Ballet had gone on. She had been a rude and rather arrogant girl but in the end saw she did have a good heart.

Thinking about Jenny, Katherine thought of how Jenny's style was so totally different from her own. How Jenny wasn't afraid to try something new, while Katherine did have her own problems with trying something new.

_I did feel better of trying to play it safe in some ways, not trying to go for something new and foreign just so that I wouldn't be burned._ Katherine thought to herself._ Yet I wonder... do I remember the freedom in doing things exactly how I want to? Or is it even that at all?_

Seeing as how much better she felt after calling Cordy, she decided to make another overseas call. This time to California.

"Hello Stone Residence."

"Hello Jenny. This is Katherine. Katherine Hillard."

"Katherine... oh, Kat!  Right!  Hi."

"How have you been?"

"Good.  Really good.  How about you?  How is it at the Academy?"

"Honestly, it's something I'm not enjoying much at all," Katherine admitted.

"Why not?" 

"Cause the instructors here just want to turn out ballerina dolls that follow a certain style only," Kat replied. "No freedom. No expression. Just a routine."

"Gah," Jenny said, almost explosively.  "All of them are like that?"

"Enough to make me realize how much of a bad idea this all was," Kat told her, "and also to envy you. Believe me Jenny, you would have hated being here."

"Envy me?" she asked, startled.

"I do envy you. For your own freedom. The way you're able to just throw yourself into anything new without being worried about it or such," Kat said. "For the most part, I've always ended up sticking with what was safe, easy, secure. That's something I find myself regretting."

"Oh." She sounded a little confused.

"You sound confused. Maybe I am too, not sure what to say or how to go about it," Kat replied, "It's just that, I was sitting in my apartment, thinking about how my day has gone. How my time here in London has been. And then out of the blue I think of you. Remember the time I met you and saw how you acted. When we were told to perform a certain way, you just did it true to your own self. I haven't been true to my own self lately. Something I've unfortunately had to learn the hard way."

"What, that you need to stay true to yourself?"  She sounded even more confused.  "You were always so... real, so good.  And I thought you were true.  You know, just because my self expression isn't like everyone else's doesn't mean that everyone's has to be different."

Katherine mulled over Jenny's words for a bit thoughtfully. _I'm beginning to think here that maybe I have been looking at this all in the wrong way. Maybe I do have a better sense on my own identity than Kim did, but maybe..._

"Kat? You there?"

Kat realized that she was still on the phone and went back to talking. "I think back then, I was probably true to myself. But coming here to London, I think I started to lose a part of that..." she paused for a bit before speaking again, "Jenny, have you ever wanted to prove that you were better than someone?"

"Me?  The one who snubbed you and shouted at my uncle?  I wanted to prove I was better than everyone."

"Yeah, that's true." Katherine said. "... I think there just some unresolved feelings that I have for certain people. Feelings that I really wasn't aware of. I think that's my problem is. I hope I haven't been a bother in calling to you Jenny."

"Not a bother at all.  I'd like to be friends."

"I'd like that too," Katherine agreed. "I'll give you a call or send you a postcard sometime. "Bye Jenny."

"Bye"

Katherine hung up the phone and felt a bit better about all of this. There were some issues that still had to be dealt with but she thought she could deal with them after a short nap.

-----

No such luck.

"Five minutes Miss Hillard!"

"Huh?!" Katherine gasped, waking up as she was in a chair, an actress's chair backstage facing a mirror. She let out yelp when she saw that her entire head was totally blank. No eyes, no nose, no face, nothing.

"Boy, you scare easily, meow."

Katherine froze, hearing her own voice but it was coming from behind her. There she saw a humanoid-sized orange-furred cat creature. She had bushy ears like a fox, a brownish mask-face, and a very long tail that wrapped around her shoulders, yet she was wearing the exact same clothes that Katherine was wearing at that very moment. "Katastrophe? But... this can't be..."

"Its all in your head luv," Katastrophe smirked as she jumped right beside Katherine, giving her a hug. However instead of fear, Katherine found herself welcoming it. Katastrophe's lips just became an open smirk. "Good to know you don't hate me any more luv. It'd make things much more bloody harder."

"What is with you?" Kat asked, getting her cat monster self to roll her eyes at her.

"We're all actresses on stage, isn't that right Olivia?" Katastrophe asked.

"You have that right sister." Katherine's voice spoke out again. Katherine turned to face the source and found Olivia Newton John walking towards her yet she too was wearing Kat's clothes. "Glad to see you got some swing in your step still."

"Just... what is... what is with my face?" Katherine asked, "I mean I don't have my face."

"Think we need big brains for explanation?" Katastrophe asked.

"I think we'll all be better off when we aren't so fractured," another Kat voice spoke out, yet this one came from Barbara Gordon who was wheeling herself over to them. "I'm not exactly in your league but I am a portion of the whole."

"This is all so weird," Katherine shook her head, the whole thing being so very weird.

"I'll give you as much as I can, or as much as my/our subconscious can tell you," Barbara replied, "You don't have a face right now because your own identity hasn't be found yet. It's been fragmented rather badly. There are some large pieces with some rather small pieces."

"But so far you've done so very well Katherine," Olivia said, "I mean we've almost gotten our entire cast together."

"'Entire cast'?" Kat asked. The other three led her out to a stage where curtain kept the audience from seeing the stage.

On stage Katherine saw faces that she had worn before yet all of them wearing her own body just as the other three personalities she met had. There was Fu Mingxia, Princess Allura, Jenny Stone, Cordelia Porter, Dazzler, and others there as well.

"Well look who finally made it," Jenny said proudly. "Show's about to start."

"Problem is that we are still short," Allura replied, looking outside, "And the audience is getting restless."

Katastrophe turned to Kat and said, "You have to find the rest, other wise we can't have our show."

"And thus we'll never be complete." Olivia finished.

"Take a look outside," Barbara told Katherine. Katherine did that, wondering how it would help. What she was an audience that couldn't be counted, their features blocked in shadows and yet within the crowd, there was something.

And then there was light.

-----

"Gah!" Katherine gasped as she sat up on the couch. "That... that was more than a dream. I know it was!" Getting up off of the couch she went to go look at herself in the mirror, seeing Jenny Stone's face looking back at her still.

"Enough with the run around. I'm not going to rest until I get to the heart of the problem. So let's find out what that is." Katherine decided as she tore Jenny's face off and was confronted with another face from the past... or helmet from the past that is.

The helmet of the Pink Zeo Ranger.

The sight of the helmet literally blew Katherine away, as she felt herself reliving all of her memories as a Ranger. She remembered the pride and honor she felt being a Power Ranger. Of how being a Ranger not only helped clear away her guilt over her misdeeds under Rita's control, but had brought her the best friends that she could have ever asked for.

Yet there was also something totally unique in her case. Unlike others before or after her, she had gone through three different uniforms, three different sets of Ranger powers. The Pink Morphin Ranger was a title she shared with Kimberly, who had been her predecessor, and the Pink Turbo Ranger was something she shared with Cassie, since she was Katherine's successor to the powers.

But the Pink Zeo Ranger. That honor and titled belonged to Katherine and Katherine alone. She was the only one ever to morph into that particular Ranger. The only one that went on a quest to obtain the shard that would be used to power her into that form. The Pink Zeo Ranger was a unique Ranger, a ranger that could only ever be her.

"I've always honored being a Ranger, but I guess I didn't realize just how much this part meant to me. How much of a distinct part of who I am it is." Katherine mused, feeling stronger now and wondering if all of her demons had been exorcised.

When she took off the helmet of the Pink Zeo Ranger, and saw herself turn into one of the Olsen Twins, it was enough of an answer for her. "Why do I have this face on? I thought I was through with television stars." Shaking her head, she pulled off the Olsen twin, only to find herself turned into yet another blonde.

This one happened to be of a doll that her mother had gotten her for her seventh birthday and its face was one she couldn't forget.

Skipper. Ballerina Skipper to be precise.

"Now I'm a doll? I'm Barbie's sister?" Kat muttered. "What's this face doing here? I really don't see a point to it." Shaking her head, she pulled off Skipper's face to reveal the next one.

However Katherine couldn't believe the face she now looked at in the mirror.

The face of Kimberly Anne Hart.

"Okay nice try," Kat laughed as she pulled off Kim's face, only to find another one. Blinking she pulled off that face only to find another. "Triples all in a row? How original is that?" She tried again but Kimberly's face was still there. "What is this!?!"

Again and again, Katherine ripped Kim's face off only to find another. Every one she took off she saw on the floor, their mouths in wide smile. "This is not happening!" she cried as she looked at herself in the mirror, still wearing Kimberly's face. She put her hands onto her head, her head pounding as she looked on at all of the faces she had taken off laying on the ground, all of them still smiling beautifully. Perfectly.

"Stop smiling!" Katherine screeched, throwing a lamp across the room. Her anger was rising beyond her normal control. She pulled at the face again and still Kim was there. There were over twenty faces now on the floor, all of them of Kimberly. "Stop it! Stop haunting me!"

She could feel her feline attributes taking over, her body now changing into that of her hybrid form, the one of Katastrophe, and yet the face on top of the body didn't change. It remained as Kimberly Ann Hart, with a perfect smile on her face.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Katherine screamed as she started to lash out at anything in the room at all. "WHY! Why do you have to do this to me! Isn't it enough what you pulled! I broke away from you!" She pulled off her face, her claws digging deep to her face. So deep that she actually pulled off four Kim faces, but the face that showed in the mirror, was still that of Kimberly Ann Hart.

Katherine stared at the masks in her hands disdainfully, her hands trembling with anger and frustration. "Why? Why does it have to be you! Maybe you deserved what happened you months ago! But why me! Why do I have to go through your hell! I am not in your shadow any more damn it! I am not! I won't let you take it from me!" she looked at the faces again and then tore them apart with her claws, shredding them until they were little more than scraps of paper. "I HATE YOU KIMBERLY ANN HART! I HATE YOU! I HATE..."

It was seeing herself in the mirror at that moment, the mix of her being werecat and the face of a human girl on top of it all, which made her pale in fight and worry. All that she had worried before about being thought of as a monster by other people, by the people that she cared for, could be justified in what she saw in the mirror right now.

In the face of the girl that had given her everything, she saw the worst of her self, of her fears, her vices and of her hate.

And it sickened her.

"My god... my god..." Katherine gasped. She broke down right then and there, falling to the ground. She buried her head in her hands and let the tears fall like they were waterfalls. Her body started to change back to human form.

And all the while she could only think of the person she saw herself as only moments ago, shaken by how hateful and spiteful she could actually become.

"Now I know... now I know I have this feeling within, why this happened to me," Katherine cried, "I never really believed I ever got out of Kimberly's shadow. I owe everything I am to her. To being freed from Rita's control, to getting the opportunity to be a Power Ranger for three different incarnations, to getting the best friends I have ever known." She paused for a moment, thinking over those memories, thinking about the one thing that mattered most of all. "... for Tommy."

It all came back to Tommy Oliver. It always did. Katherine couldn't help but think about him so much every day. And every day she wondered if she was good enough for him or not. If she was nothing more than just a replacement, that everyone still thought of her as such.

That she's just in the shadow of the great Kimberly Ann Hart.

"This is the final demon. The one I have to finish... and I'm going to finish it." Willing up all of the courage she had within her, Katherine picked up the phone and made the call.

-----

Back in Kim's apartment the phone rang.  It continued to ring several times with no one answering.

As it rang for the eighth time Kimberly flew back in changing back into her human form and running to pick up the call.  Immediately she picked up the receiver and said  "Hello?"

"Hi Kim," the voice of Katherine Hillard said on the other line.

-----

Kat heard Kimberly's voice and let her speak first as Kat struggled to find the words she needed to say.

"Kat!" Kimberly exclaimed, "Are you okay? I've been trying to get through to you for a while now and..."

"Kimberly... I'm sorry," Katherine said in a hoarse voice.

"Sorry?" Kimberly asked confused, "Katherine, what do you have to be sorry about?"

"You wondered if you'd ever meet someone that went through an ordeal like yours?"

There was a long pause on the line for a while before Kat heard anything, "... no... oh god Kat... how? Why I don't understand! How could this happen to you!"

"You told me you hated me for taking your life," Katherine replied, "For me, I've hated you for giving me my life."

"... what?"

"I've hated being in your shadow. I hated the comparisons between us. I hated the wondering if I was even worthy of it all... if I was worthy of him." Katherine breathed.

"...you are worthy of him Katherine. More than I am." Kimberly said softly. "I wish I'd known. I don't know what could have been done..."

"There was nothing you could have done to fix this problem. This was something I had to find out, understand and correct all on my own," Katherine replied. "... all the same thanks for the offer."

"Where do you want to go from here then?" Kimberly asked.

Katherine thought about it for a while before speaking. "What I said when you called months ago, about us being friends. That hasn't changed. What has is that now I know it will be much better for us to be friends again now."

"Yeah."

Silence permeated through the phone line for a while. As if both girls were trying to decide what else to say, yet they knew that the most important problems had been covered in Kim's call months ago. For Katherine, there was only one single glaring problem and that had been being in Kim's shadow.

"Friends?" Katherine asked.

"Always." Kimberly replied.

"Thanks Kim." Katherine said gratefully, as she hung up the phone. Once she did however, she fell to the ground unconscious.

-----

However, back in Florida, a certain doe eyed young lady was doing her very best not to loose it ... and failing.

_It all makes sense! I don't believe it! I should have seen it a mile away! Why didn't I!_ Kimberly berated herself, blamed herself for the hell that Katherine had been forced to endure. _She didn't have to do it on her own! I could have helped her! I could have helped her get through it!_

Finally her restraint left her and she screamed out to the heavens, "ALAN! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!!! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!!!"

"You rang?" Alan asked calmly, "And such colorful commentary to..." he stopped when he found himself on the receiving end of a glare that would make even the worst evils fall back in fear. "... okay you're mad."

"No Alan. You've seen me mad," Kimberly fumed. "This goes way, way, way beyond mad. Way beyond pissed off." She increased her glare at him, "And if you open your mouth to make a comment on how that was an Armageddon reference or make any other wise cracks, I promise you will regret it. I am SO not in the mood for it right now."

"Fine then," Alan replied. "So if that's how you want to play it Kim, then let's play it that way. Yes, I knew what was happening to Katherine, and yes that's why I got called away, but I didn't learn it was specifically about Kat until after I left your apartment."

"Then why didn't you just turn around and tell me?" Kimberly demanded.

"I think you already know why," Alan said, while Kimberly turned her back to him. "Katherine needed to do this on her own Kimberly. You know that and you heard it from her yourself. She's felt like she's been in your shadow for years now. Looked at in the eyes of others as a replacement save for those there weren't there to know the story. This was the way it had to be."

"And is it over?" Kimberly asked.

"Almost," Alan replied. "The rest is up to Katherine."

"Take me there."

"Huh?" Alan blinked, finding Kimberly right in his face.

"You went across continents without a plane and with relative ease. Take me to Katherine now," Kimberly demanded.

"Kimberly..."

"Don't you understand!" Kimberly snapped, "I may not be able to interfere in what happens, but when it IS over, I am going to be there for her, no matter what."

Alan looked at her with a serious face. "Are you sure about that? You might not like what you might find."

The look in Kimberly's eyes was more than enough as she gave him her answer. "Do it."

"... hold on to your stomach and try not to hurl," Alan said as he took hold of her right hand, "this is going to be a bumpy ride."

Kimberly didn't say a word as Alan started to chant in an unknown dialect and soon they were gone in a stream of light.

-----

Back inside of her mind, Katherine found herself back on stage, the curtain still down yet felt two hands on top of her. Turning around she found two faces: Pink Zeo and Kimberly, both wearing the same clothes that she was.

"Knew you could do it." Pink Zeo said.

"Ditto for me." Kimberly added.

"So what are we going to do?" Jenny asked.

"I dunno. Why don't we let the start of the show tell us how she wants to do it." Katastrophe replied.

"... they want a show do they?" Katherine mused, "Then let's give them one hell of a performance."

All of the figures there just nodded, as if no more needed to be said. As if they understood what had to be done.

When the curtain came up, Katherine went out on stage, performing into a form of dance that was not practiced at the Academy, yet it was something free and expressional. She wanted to give on the best show of her life and she intended to do so.

Katherine wasn't alone for long as others came onto the stage, performing moves and styles that fit to the image of what they were but also complemented what Katherine was doing. During this time though, an aspect would come over to her and just become a spectral form, which merged with Katherine. When they did, Katherine gained that persons face.

It went on like this for some time until finally there was only Kimberly and Pink Zeo left on stage, preparing for the climax of the show.

"Do you hate me?" Kimberly asked Katherine.

"... no. Not any more," Katherine assured her, "I was foolish to do so. You asked me for forgiveness for hating me. How could I..."

"No need. Enough words are said. Truth is best when told simply." Kimberly replied.

"You look like Kim but you sure aren't her," Kat laughed.

Kimberly just smiled as she became spectral and merged with Kat, gaining Kim's face in the process. Now it was Pink Zeo's turn, "You've done us all proud. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you," Katherine said gratefully, and then they hit the finale of the performance, which ended with Pink Zeo merging with Katherine. This time, Katherine found herself in the uniform of the Pink Zeo Ranger.

Applause could be heard through out the building, however as she looked in the front row, she noticed there was actually a figure she could see clearly, where as everyone else was a blur.

It was one of the Olsen Twins.

"We'll be meeting soon but after that, there's still more to come," She said before disappearing into the crowd.

"Wait!" Katherine called out but a light blinded her. When it faded she saw the chairs were empty. The Olsen girl was gone.

Yet in the back there were now three silhouetted figures, all of them female, who spoke, "You will meet your sister of spirit very soon, but there is another. Light to Light. Shadow to Shadow. Dark to Dark. All three complete the chain. Remember when the time comes."

With their message delivered, the three shadowy females vanished, leaving Katherine alone to hear in her head the voices of her aspects.

**"Now we are... complete."**

-----

"... that has to be the worst kind of travel," Kimberly groaned as she walked through the hallways with Alan to where Katherine's apartment had to be. At the moment, she looked like she WAS Katherine Hillard. From her face to her body and height, it was all a perfect match. It was the only way the guard would let her come in at this time of night. She turned to Alan and asked, "Why is it that he didn't see you?"

"See this ring?" Alan replied showing him the emerald ring on his finger, "it allows me to slip in and out without being seen."

"Great, you have a One Ring knockoff. So that's how you seem to vanish when you want," Kimberly chuckled, "Like that first time we meet. You were still in the hallway weren't you."

Alan nodded. "Guilty as charged. You thought I was a ghost or some sort of paranormal creature."

"Alan, you are anything but normal," Kimberly said as they reached the door that was to Katherine's room. She knocked on the door and there was no answer for a while. _Please God, don't let anything have happened to..._

That's when the door suddenly opened and staring back at her was a plastic version of Kimberly's own face. "... Kimberly?" her face spoke in a voice that wasn't hers but was familiar.

Kimberly just let out a gasp, the reality of it all having finally set it. That someone she knew had now just gone through exactly what she had. She only hoped the end was the same, "Katherine?"

-----

"Now we are... complete." Katherine muttered in her sleep. Suddenly she woke up, getting back onto her feet. She felt an indescribable feeling running through her. A feeling of relief and completion.

She looked in the mirror and saw Kimberly's face look back at her. She was about to remove it when suddenly there was a knock there. She was about to remove the face when she suddenly hear voices... voices that sounded familiar. "It can't be," Katherine muttered as she went to the door and opened it up.

Only to find herself, her real self staring back at her. All real, all flesh and wearing an entirely pink ensemble. _No! No I found who I am! This can't be..._ her eyes darted over to the purse she saw 'herself' carrying over her left shoulder. A purse she remembered quite well. Seeing Alan close by however cinched it for her. "... Kimberly?"

"Katherine?" she heard her mouth open but Kimberly's voice came out. As if synchronized, the two girls put a hand to their necks, and pulled off their faces.

When Katherine saw Kimberly's real face, her eyes shining and tears starting to fall, she put her hands to her own face... and felt it was flesh. She pulled her hair forward and saw it was its true blonde color. "I... I'm me again!"

"Yes you are... you most certainly are," Kimberly cried, and unable to help herself, hugged Katherine.

A hug that the other girl returned whole heartedly.

-----

A while later Kim and Kat were sitting down on a sofa. Neither of them had said much of anything, just giving hugs and such, as if being together and just basking in the moment was enough.

They looked at each other for a while before Kim gave a smirk that made Kat ask, "What?"

"Pull your face off and think of looking like me."

"... what?" Kat blinked, looking at Kimberly who proceeded to pull off her face to show Katherine's own.

"I got these powers out of the whole ordeal I went through," Kimberly said to her, "You could have to. It's not a definite but it is possible."

"Really?" Concentrating, Kat pulled at her face, feeling it come off of her. Soon all she was left with in her hands was a plastic copy of her own face.

"Now think of becoming your real self, as that is your default." Kim told her as she pulled off her Kat face, returning herself back to normal.

Katherine followed suit and found Kim's face in her hands along her copy, her real face restored again. "This is... incredible."

"Wait until you've practiced for a while. You'll wanna do some body work, even if it is just for the heck of it," Kim smiled, getting up to her feet, "So let's go have a gander at what faces came from your pretty little head."

"Hey wait!" Katherine cried, rushing after her, though she didn't have to go to far. Kimberly had picked up the Skipper mask.

"You were Mattel doll too huh?" Kimberly quipped.

Katherine had an amused look on her face. "Let me guess. Barbie."

"Gymnast Barbie to be precise," Kimberly answered, "This Ballerina or Diver Skipper?"

"Ballerina."

Kimberly put the face down and looked around the room, though when her feet hit something, she bent down to look at it. It was plastic shreds... of her face. "You get Skipper right before me?"

"Yeah."

"And I thought I was bad when I admitted to hating you back then," Kimberly whistled.

"At least its all behind us." Kat said.

"For good," Kim agreed, wanting to leave the past in the past. She saw a few more masks that Katherine had, saw the schemes of phases that mirrored ones Kim herself had gone through.

Eventually, she ended up staring at the lifeless Lara Croft mask, a smile coming on her face which made Katherine curious, "What?"

"I recently bought two comics that had Lara Croft paired up with Sara Pezzini, who is the wielder of the Witchblade in the Witchblade comics. Sara was one of the masks that I went through during my phase," Kimberly answered, "Well at least you could do a better Lara than me. You got the natural height and accent."

"So don't have her measurements," Kat quipped.

"Not now at least," Kimberly replied, a rather naughty smile on her face, "Remember how I said with practice you alter the body. I meant that literally. Enough practice, and you can look like anyone at all."

Katherine just shook her head, a smirk on her face, "Well now that does explain why I'm eye level with you right now instead of looking down." Seeing Kimberly's confused face she just smirked wider, "You're my height right now, something that's supposed to be impossible since I'm four to six inches taller than you."

Both girls erupted into a fit of laughter after that. Kimberly then went on to spot the Slayers masks. "Lina and Naga?"

"Dunno why I ended up as both of them," Katherine said, "If anything you're Lina and I'm Naga?"

Kimberly gave a frown to her, "Oh? Is it because I'm short, underdeveloped and flat chested?"

Katherine shook her head, "No that's not it at all."

"Well since you said that," Kimberly growled, though suddenly her face broke out into a smirk as she pulled off her face, now having Lina's own face as her own. She then put her hands behind her back, as if she was undoing a zipper and stepped out of her current body, only to end up shorter and dressed exactly like Lina Inverse, "Then how about I just become Lina Inverse and show you what it means to get on my bad side?"

Katherine just shared a look as a smirk came on her own face. "Oh really, well Lina I think you need to know that as powerful as you are there is someone stronger than you."

"Oh do tell blondie," Kimberly said in jest, enjoying every moment of this.

Katherine just smirked as a plan came to her mind, seeing how Kimberly had done what she did and wondered if it would work with her. She first pulled her face off to reveal Lina's arch rival, "The most beautiful and gracious and talented sorceress in the world..."

_She thinks she's going to pull off a body swap this early?_ Kim mused, wondering how disappointed Kat would be when she didn't change her body appearance. _Considering it took ME a while before I got it right._

However as Kimberly saw Kat mimic what she did to change into Lina, she saw Katherine stepping out of her own body as if it was a costume. The person that came out was so not Kat, rather the body matched the face Kat was now wearing perfectly.

Katherine had a proud and smug look on her face to fit her character as she announced herself, "Naga the Serpent! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!  Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!  Ah ha ha ha ---" she stopped laughing when seeing Kimberly's shocked expression. "Kimberly?"

"Kat... take a look at yourself." She breathed out and Kat did in the mirror. Both girls saw each other and both of them wore Lina and Naga's EXACT outfits. They turned to each other before calling out, "Alan!"

"You know I need to find better drinks for a cheaper price," Alan said coming out of the kitchen, "And what to do for-WHOA!" he let the sodas drop out of his hands when looking at the girls. "... which is Kim?" Kim as Lina raised her hand and Alan's eyes went wide a little.

"Alan, it took me over a week to get a body change done right. How did Kat get it right just by mimicking me?" Kimberly asked.

Alan slowly sat down in a coach, looking over at Kat as Naga, but careful not to look for too long as he knew what could happen. Though it wasn't quite Naga's well-endowed figure, it was rather shapely. He had his answer when just seeing her clothing. "Kim. You remember every body modification that you did, save for Divatox, has been a fully clothed one correct."

"Yeah and Divaslut happens to be one of the easiest to get real clothing done..." she trailed off getting his point.

"What?" Kat asked.

"When changing bodies, mass is taken into consideration as well as clothing and body shape. The more closely to a person you want to imitate you are... or that person isn't wearing that much in the way of clothing," Alan explained, "The easier it is to pull off a body switch. Still, for a first attempt, it's a rather good shot."

"Even so, I'm not wearing much more than a bikini," Katherine replied, looking down at her clothing, or rather lack of. Only what needed to be covered was covered. "How do I get back to my normal body?"

"Just want to do that. Your body is the default after all," Kim told her.

Concentrating on doing just that, Kat stepped outside of 'Naga's' body and was back to her fully clothed self. Well save that she still had Naga's head on top of her body. "Much better," she said looked at herself in the mirror and took off Naga's face to bring back her own. She saw Kim changing back to her own body.

"I can't tell you how great this is," Kimberly smiled, "I mean I'm sorry you had to go through what you did but..."

"Kimberly, there's something else."  Kat said interrupting her.  Kim wondered just what she meant when Kat stood up...

...and started to shrink.

Kat got smaller and smaller as fur covered her entire body.  White fur.  Her hands also turned into paws, as well as her feet as her clothes and shoes absorbed into her transforming form.  A tail also sprang from her backside and whiskers from her face.

Kat was turned back into PC, also known as Park Cat, and jumped up into Kimberly's lap.  Once in her lap Kat changed back into her human form sitting on her lap.

"Well?" Kat asked.

"Let me guess?  You're a werecat?" Kim asked.

"Yep." Kat said.  "I thought it was a symptom of being under Rita's spell, but I found it meant something else totally.  Being a werecat was part of my heritage, a part of me I was denying for so long."  Kat looked at Kimberly and tried to read her expression.

"Kimberly?  Are you all right?"

"Oh I'm fine." Kim said.  "It's just...."

"Just what?"

"I think I'd better show you." Kim said.  "Can we go outside?"  Kat nodded and the two girls went outside onto her back porch.

Kat was totally unprepared for what happened next.

Kimberly jumped off the balcony and started to change herself.  Her arms were turning into wings as her body became smaller and skinnier.  Her legs turned into claws for grabbing and her arms turned into wings.  Her clothes absorbed into her human form as well as her head changed and a beak came from her mouth.

And then Kimberly flew.

Flew free as a bird, for that was what she was.

She was a crane, graceful and free.

Katherine couldn't help but smile in awe.  Here was another connection she had with Kimberly Hart.  Another connection that sank it in for her.

Kat and Kim were spirit sisters.

Kimberly was also a were person.  Katherine was not alone.

And when Kimberly landed back on the porch she changed back to her human form.

"I don't believe it.  When?" Kat asked.

"Pretty recently." Kimberly said. "I felt something tug in my soul and my mind was filled with images of the crane. I immediately ran out of my apartment and then felt the change take over. I flew for hours until I came back home and got your call."

"A tug in your soul?  It sounds like the time I was in my Katastrophe mask."

"Can you actually change into that form?" Kimberly asked.

Katherine just smirked as she went into her hybrid form of human and cat. This time however Kimberly saw none of the additions like the battle armor that Rita's magic had provided for it. Katherine just became Katastrophe, however her clothes also changed with her change. She was wearing the same clothes but they had grown bigger to fit her new size and there was a hole in the back of the pants for her long tail to come out, "This answer your question?"

"Yeah it does, now you get to see my hybrid form," Kimberly smirked as she started to will her own change. Her skin changed tones from pink to white, her hair became a massive plume of feathers. Her arms remain the same but also now had wings as part of them. Her feet changed into a set of three talons and her hands remained the same though for every finger there was also a talon, but these were much more softer than her feet. Like Kat, Kim's clothes also changed to fit her hybrid appearance.

"Incredible," Katherine muttered.

"You're incredible yourself girlfriend," Kimberly returned as they both looked over each other, feeling parts of each other to see how it felt. After a bit both of them returned to their fully human appearances, their clothes back to the way they were before.

"This is just too much. Do you think there could be a connection?" Kat asked.

"More than you know," Alan said.  Both girls turned to ask what he meant by that.

"You two can do more than just change into werecat and werecrane. The were people could change into any animal they could if they could feel the spirit of that animal. The cat and crane were just the easiest for you two."

"More?" Kat asked.

"What do you mean?" Kim followed up.

Alan gestured for them to sit down and get comfortable.  "About a couple thousand years ago there was a tribe that perfected the art of animagi, transforming into animals of the spirit.  However when the colonists first settled a lot of these secrets were lost when the white man took the Indians' lands."

"Not all of them," Kat said.

"No not all," Alan added.  "However those met their own forms of persecution.  Witch hunts, witch trials and the like.  One tribe however wished to ensure that some of their secrets would survive so they chose two girls who were the most practiced in the animagi art and bound their souls in a rite of blood.  Bonding them in soul until they would be reborn in a later age so they could rediscover the potential in themselves."

"Are you saying... that Kat and I... are these two girls?"

"Girls that were... spirit sisters?" Kat then asked.

"Girls that are the two of you," Alan said.  "You are those two girls, bonded by that rite, sharing a link unlike any other, tapping a power as old and forgotten as time itself waiting for you to rediscover it and to share your gifts with the world when the time is right."

"Amazing." Kim and Kat said in unison.  It was then they realized something else.  The visions they had of their tribal circles, and the chief coming to them both.  It was then that Kimberly and Katherine turned and could make out the faces of the ones next to each other.

Next to Kimberly was a girl with Katherine's face...

...and next to Katherine was a girl with Kimberly's face.

If Alan was aware of the revelation Kim and Kat had just had he did not show it.  He merely continued his original explanation.  "Now it's true that there are were-animals out there." Alan said.  "But they don't have the knowledge or potential the two of you do, so they are locked in one form.  But with the two of you they can transcend those limits and be whatever they wish to be."

"Cool," Kim and Kat said in unison again picking up where they left off.

"Just don't get me started about werechickens okay?" Alan said.  "I've known some that were embarrassed by that Ghostbusters cartoon they had on them."

"Okay," Kim and Kat said again.

"And will you stop doing that?" Alan asked.

"Doing what?" they said again.

"The unison thing." Alan said.  "It's driving me nuts."

"Peanut?" Kim asked.

"...or cashew?" Kat followed.

Alan then buried his face in his hands. "Will you two quit it? You remind me of two giggling blonde sisters right now."

Hearing that from him made Kimberly and Katherine smile wider as they pulled off their faces.

"You talking about Mary Kate..." Kimberly started.

"... and Ashley..." Katherine continued and both girls finished by saying, "...Olsen?" together, as they had in fact become the Olsen Twins.

Alan just banged his head against the wall. "Who knew spirit sisters could be such pranksters like you two?"

Both girls giggled as they gave each other hugs. "Well this definitely clinches us being spirit sisters." Kimberly smirked.

"Only our true spirit sisters would end up having the correct twin masks," Katherine agreed, though her lips curved into a very evil smile.

"Ooooh!" Kimberly gushed, "I know that evil smile! You got something cooking and I have a pretty good idea what it is, don't I?"

"We're twins right now, what do you think?" Katherine replied. Both girls erupted into a gigglefest, having their fun even though it was nearly midnight.

"Hey Alan.  How come our transformations are different?" Kim asked.  "I mean with people we're removing masks, but when doing animals it's like..."

"...we're melting into becoming them." Kat finished. "It's like we're liquid.  We're melting from being human..."

"...and being solid when it comes to being animal," Kim finished.

Alan looked at Kim and Kat and wondered when they would stop finishing each others' sentences.  He answered, "The mask aspect is kind of symbolic. It's like a...shedding of the skin so to speak.  The old skin comes off giving birth to a 'new skin'."

"But our masks weren't skin..." Kim said.

"...at least not starting out," Kat finished.

"Still the symbolism was there," Alan answered.  "For a long time skin shedding was a part of the transformation process.  Did you know that when the time came for the animal to become human they just ripped their skins out?"

"Oh gross!" Kim said.

"Yeah gag me!" Kat answered.

"Well at any rate, with the innovation of cartoons the shedding of skin took on a whole new meaning as masks came into play as well as the body suit gag Bugs Bunny did a few times."  Alan laughed as he thought of Bugs.  "Now can you two girls do me a favor?"

"Sure." Kim said.

"No problem." Kat said.

Alan took a moment before speaking then said, "WOULD YOU TWO PLEASE STOP COMPLETING EACH OTHER'S SENTENCES?!!!"

"Okay okay!" Kim said waving her hands trying to get Alan to calm down.

When he walked over to the other side of the room, Kat went over to her spirit sister and whispered, "Boy what a grouch."

"He's not that bad... usually," Kim said with a smirk. "I'm just glad it's the weekend. I'd hate for it to be a weekday right now."

"So would I," Kat replied, "you two feel like spending the night here?"

"I call the couch," Alan said at once, claiming it as if it was his own. It got him the glares of both girls. He looked up at them with narrowed eyes, "One, no frelling way am I going to go astreth back to my apartment or yours Kim at this time of night. Two, astrething nearly twenty times in one day back and forth between two continents is something I rarely do and it drains the hell out of me. Three, I am tired, I am going to sleep. Good night."

"Alan you can't just fall asleep like..." Kim started to say then noticed Alan had already fallen asleep. "... I don't believe it. He really was that tired."

"Let him, he helped me, after all," Kat said. "Besides if he's rested than he can't complain tomorrow."

Kimberly blinked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Kat just had a smirk on her face, "Mind if I move in sister?"

-----

_A month later..._

"So when do you think we should tell Tommy about this?" Kim asked her roommate.

"What's 'this' supposed to imply?" Katherine questioned, "That I'm a wereperson, that we are both roommates, or that I have this power to change the appearance of my face and body?"

"All of the above." Kim smiled.

"Well when are _you_ going to tell him?" Kat questioned with a smirk. The two soon erupted into a fit of laughter. Both Spirit Sisters enjoying each others company. "Moving out of that Academy was the best move I made in a long time."

"I can't complain, I got a sister to hang around with," Kimberly smiled, "Though why don't you want to tell Tommy about this yet."

"How about when you decide to tell Tommy, then I'll tell him," Kat suggested, "And besides Tommy's rather busy right now."

"Doing what?" Kimberly asked, "Racing cars in Daytona?"

Kat just smirked, waiting for Kim to be drinking a glass of water, "Nope. Going to college."

The result was an immediate spit take by Kimberly, "WHAT?! Come again?!"

Katherine had a good laugh at her reaction, though toned it down she saw Kimberly glaring at her. "Like I was saying, Tommy was doing the racing circuit but recently he told me that it just didn't feel right. So he's going to college."

"Majoring in what?" Kim asked.

"Paleontology."

"... you are kidding right?" A shake of Kat's head was all Kim needed to start laughing. "Dinosaurs! Oh is that a blast from the past!"

"I asked him what made him think of it and he said, there's just a feeling I have," Kat told Kim.

"Well I wish him luck, cause he is going to need it for getting to class on time," Kim laughed. "Dr. Tommy Oliver. Some how I can't quite picture that being his job."

"Speaking of jobs, we certainly got a lot of options to chose from," Katherine said, "We could both do modeling with our powers if we wanted to."

"There's also the idea that came out of a quip: costume shop," Kim smiled. "Music also has its potentials."

Kat looked thoughtful for a bit, "You know we could think about leasing a bigger apartment. A building, where they could hold a dance/gymnast studio on the ground floor while we live on the top floor."

"We have a lot of choices, a lot of possibilities," Kimberly mused. "Makes me wonder what we'll end up doing in the end."

"Yeah, but no matter what we do, it just seems to me that the sky is our limit." Katherine smiled and seeing her spirit sister smile back, she knew she was right.

And felt more whole and more complete than she had ever been in her entire life.

**The End...?**


End file.
